Cam lobe wear

[verhoefnelis]

Hi, this is my first post but I have read a lot of awesome things on here, thanks for all the great info.

I was doing the valve clearances on my GSF 400(M) And I saw this on the
number 1 exhaust cam, what would cause this wear, and is it something I should worry about?

[Chris H]

Hi,

No picture, get one up and we will take a look.

[verhoefnelis]

Hi, i can see the photo on my desktop and Ipad, but i'll attach a photo also.

[Chris H]

You have some serious wear going on there.
The oil feeds from the camshaft holder above, may not be feeding that end correctly.

[verhoefnelis]

I had the bike turn over while the cam cover was off, it looked like it gave a uniform goldish coat of oil to the lobe? Could it be old damage, or that when someone had the head off the bike they did not lube everything before first starting?

[turbofb]

FWIW, Ive been seeing more and more wear like this at work on Kohler and Honda utility engines.
 Didnt see this kind of wear ever,at least not during the 90's and 00's. After a dealer tech meeting I learned that most conventional oils are eliminating zinc and other "depositing" elements from engine oil to reduce pollution and catylist problems. Engines with flat tappet/ non-roller followers are seeing more wear on the cams due to this. Both manufacturers recommended running synthetic oils in older engines that have cams/tappets made of softer steel. Ive got a wall of flattened camshafts from engines that had regular oil changes and only moderate hours......I now run Mobile Syn in all my rental engines.